Raging Winds/Tornadoes Cause Severe Damage in Ala., Miss.
Pastor Dale Morgan
Raging Winds/Tornadoes Cause Severe Damage in Ala., Miss.*
By JAY REEVES,
Associated Press Writer AP
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Powerful thunderstorms packing heavy rain and high
winds pushed across Alabama and Mississippi on Thursday, causing
scattered property damage and at least two traffic deaths.
Several tornado watches or warnings were issued Thursday in both states,
but no touchdowns were immediately confirmed.
In Mississippi, a motorist was killed after colliding with a Lamar
County deputy head-on during the height of the storm, while a
single-vehicle accident in Jones County claimed another life.
Authorities there said the vehicles involved in both crashes may have
hydroplaned during downpours, though investigations are continuing.
In Alabama's Lamar County near the Mississippi line, at least two houses
were destroyed in Sulligent, the National Weather Service said.
In nearby Vernon, rescuers freed a woman who was pinned in her vehicle
after a tree fell on it, said Don Dollar, an administrative assistant
with the city. She was taken to a hospital, but her condition was not
available Thursday afternoon.
Just across the state line, buildings and buses were damaged at a school
in Caledonia, Miss., said Lea Stokes, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi
Emergency Management Agency.
To the southwest in Choctaw County, one woman was injured and barns at a
large dairy farm were heavily damaged during the peak of the storms
Thursday afternoon, county emergency management spokesman Steve
Montgomery said. At least one other person in the county was hurt in the
storm, but the area hospital said the injuries did not appear to be serious.
The severe weather shut down many schools, including the University of
Alabama and the University of North Alabama.
In east-central Illinois, meanwhile, days of springlike weather that
brought heavy rainfall and melting snow caused severe flooding that
forced hundreds of people to evacuate.
Floodwaters were as deep as 6 feet in Watseka, were residents left about
235 homes. Fire Chief David Mayotte said officials used a dozen boats to
rescue about 535 residents, plus 75 pets, starting shortly after
midnight Wednesday and continuing into Thursday morning.
"Most of the people who have lived here a long time say it's the worst
flooding they've seen," said Carl Gerdovich, director of the Iroquois
County Emergency Service Disaster Agency. Floodwaters in the area were
dropping Thursday.
Watseka residents Tracy Hendry and her two daughters spent Wednesday
night at Trinity Church. Hendry sent her daughters to stay with
relatives on Thursday, but planned to sleep there a second night.
She said she recently moved out of her house and her belongings were
stored in her mother's garage, which was knee-high in water Thursday.
"I lost everything," she said. "I'm just taking it as it goes."
Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared state disaster areas in Iroquois County
and Livingston County, where about 200 homes were evacuated when the
Vermilion River went over its banks.
In Vancouver, Wash., a rare tornado touched down Thursday in a
residential area, downing power lines, uprooting trees and tossing
shopping carts into cars. There were no reports of injuries, fire
department spokesman Jim Flaherty said.
Connie Storey of Vancouver told KGW-TV she was walking her dog when the
wind came up and "blew me across the street into my neighbor's cyclone
fence, where I hung on for dear life." The high winds lasted about 30
seconds, she said.
In Creede, Colo., skies cleared and the winds were calm as two
helicopters and searchers on skis searched for two snowboarders missing
since last weekend amid brutal weather in the southwestern Colorado
mountains.
Michael George and Kyle Kerschen, both 27 and both from Albuquerque,
N.M., were reported missing on Saturday near the Wolf Creek ski resort
about 170 miles southwest of Denver.
(This version CORRECTS Watseka residents' temporary housing plans.)